Pottstown-based Sly Fox plans to expand to Pittsburgh, Malvern

Sly Fox Brewing Co. has launched an ambitious expansion plan, with the goal of opening four new locations this year.

In addition to the Wyomissing restaurant the company announced last year, Pottstown-based Sly Fox also plans to open a location in Malvern, Chester County, and two locations in Pittsburgh by the end of 2019.

The company currently operates its main brewery and Tastin' Room in Pottstown and a Brewhouse and Eatery in East Pikeland Township, Chester County.

"We're excited to hit the Pittsburgh market," said John Giannopoulos, Sly Fox's managing partner. "We already sell a good amount of beer there via distribution, and we wanted to support it with a pub."

Sales weren't the only reason Sly Fox is moving into Pittsburgh, Giannopoulos said.

"Pittsburgh is really happening right now," he said. "It's jumping, so it makes sense for us to be there. Where we have pubs, we sell more beer, both on premise and through distribution. It helps our brand elevate."

The Malvern and Wyomissing locations and one of the Pittsburgh locations will be restaurants that serve Sly Fox beers but do not brew any, while the other Pittsburgh location will be a brewpub with a small brewing system.

The brewpub will be located in The Highline, an 868,000 square-foot, 6-story brick warehouse formerly known as the Terminal Building. The building's developer, McKnight Realty Partners, is in the midst of a $100-million project to convert it into a mixed-used complex that includes office, retail and restaurant space.

The brewpub will have a 7-barrel brewing system for brewing small and experimental batches of beer, Giannopoulos said.

"Beers that we may not want to do in the volume that we make in Pottstown, which is a significant amount," he said.

Giannopoulos hopes to open the location in the fall.

The other Pittsburgh location, which is not finalized yet, would be located in the downtown area in a space that was already a restaurant. Giannopoulos said he hopes to have the deal finalized in the coming weeks and open the restaurant in the summer.

"We just have to go in and make some changes," he said. "Hopefully three or four months of build-out then we'll open that up."

Initial construction is underway at the Wyomissing restaurant, which Sly Fox announced plans for in March 2018. It will be located in the former Dooney & Bourke outlet along Hill Avenue.

Giannopoulos said the developer, Equus Capital Partners, is currently doing work in the building, and Sly Fox's contractors will begin working on the site in the coming weeks.

Giannopoulos hopes to open the restaurant in mid-May.

The Malvern restaurant will be located in The Grove at Malvern, a former shopping center that is being redeveloped into a mixed-use complex. Construction just began on the project, and Giannopoulos said he hopes to open the restaurant in the fall.

The food at all four locations will be similar to what is offered at Sly Fox's Pottstown Tastin' Room, which features pizzas, sandwiches, wings and salads.

Flagship beers and other beers brewed in Pottstown will be available at all four locations, and the two Pittsburgh locations will have several small-batch beers brewed at the Pittsburgh brewpub.

Giannopoulos, whose brother Pete Giannopoulos founded Sly Fox in 1995, admitted that opening four new locations on one year is a pretty aggressive plan.

"I must be crazy," he joked. "But we're very confident. We have good people, and that's the key to everything."